Agusan del Sur councilman tagged in drug trade gunned down

ROSARIO, Agusan del Sur —A village councilman allegedly involved in the “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) trade here was gunned down after he reportedly engaged police operatives in a shootout late Thursday night.

Chief Inspector Bonifacio Estrella Jr., the local police chief, said the slain suspect – Barangay (village) 3 kagawad Potifar Canonigo, 56, who was chairman of the peace and order committee in the village council – had been the target of a police operation for continuing his illicit drug trade despite warnings in the past.

Joint operatives of the Provincial Public Safety Company and the local police were about to serve the search warrant on Canonigo in his house but the suspect resisted and engaged in a shootout, Estrella said.

Recovered from the slain councilman were a caliber .38 revolver and a Magnum .357 revolver apart from two sachets of shabu.

Estrella said Canonigo had been engaged in the shabu trade and also used his house as a drug den./rga

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